Bradford City boss Graham Alexander makes summer transfer window admission

So far, the Bantams have sanctioned six new signings with Alexander having been keen to bring in the bulk of his new recruits before the club's recent pre-season training camp in Austria.

Jake Beesley, Adam Phillips, Callum Connolly, Macaulay Gillesphey, Jon McCracken and Henry Cartwright have all arrived at the club.

But Alexander has stressed there is still work to do.

He is set to decide shortly regarding trialist duo Reece Welch, a former Everton defender and full-back/midfielder Aaron Lewis, whose old clubs include Mansfield Town and Newport County.

Alexander, who brought on Welch and Lewis in Wednesday's 3-2 friendly win over Preston at Valley Parade, said: "Even if we have everyone fit, I think we still need three or four players to have a full-strength squad.

"If I look at the numbers we had this time last season, we are probably four or five down on that, but there were a couple that were going to move on anyway. So, I think we need to work exceptionally hard.

"We had a couple of trialists in and a couple have moved on, but we've still got Reece Welch and Aaron Lewis. We’re going to look at how they've done.

"I want to assess before deciding fully, but I think we need a little bit of strengthening.

"We're all on the same page; myself, David (Sharpe), Ryan (Sparkes) and Stefan (Rupp). We all know where we are.

"But it's important we try to make the best of our budget and that might take a couple more weeks. I don't know when the right player comes along.

"But we've seen some positive signs from the trialists that we've had in.

"What it does in pre-season, when players miss out, it opens up the door for people like Oscar Lunn. There were a couple of other young academy lads who were on the bench (versus Preston).

"They travelled with us to Austria, so they've had invaluable experience. They're good young players, but obviously not ready for League One football."

City’s lack of depth across the board was shown in midweek, with City being without Joe Wright, Gillesphey and George Lapslie against North End.

Gillesphey had been absent for a few days because of a family issue, while Lapslie had a slight quad problem.

Better news has seen Wright, who recently suffered a freak eye injury, receive the all-clear following a medical appointment.

Alexander added: "If we lost three players like we have, Laps, Macaulay and Joe Wright, then we're struggling to be able to change the team around.

"When we get into league football and the cups and all that sort of thing, you need more than that.

"But we are all on the same page. We know where we need to strengthen and we've talked about it a lot.

"It's just about getting the players that suit the squad right now.

"We understand where we are.

"I thought last pre-season our recruitment went really smoothly. I couldn’t have asked for better.

"We were possibly expecting it to be the same this season, but it hasn't been.

"You can see the calibre of the team that we can put out. But we are right on the edge."